Seen is a panoramic view of Tongdo Temple, which is set at the foot of Mount Yeongchuk, South Gyeongsang Province. / Courtesy of Tongdo Temple

By Jang Eun-hwa
Contributing Writer

The following is the second in two-part articles on Tongdo Temple. ― ED

Legend has it that at the time of Tongdo Temple's foundation there lived nine evil dragons in a pond, which frequently did harm to people. Master Jajang, founder of the temple, expelled all of them except one by boiling the pond water with his magical power, but the remaining one, which was blind, begged earnestly to stay there, entreating to protect the temple.

The Nine Dragons Pond still exists beside the main hall of the temple, located in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Does the blind dragon still protect the temple? Though I was not sure about the dragon, what was impressive to me was that the pond has become part of the history of the temple, surviving more than 1,300 years. It had clear, blue water with heaps of coins thrown by visitors. Ven. Sebong said the coins are gathered and donated to charity once a month.

By the courtesy of Ven. Sebong, we took a rest in the temple's guest room for the night. By the time we had dinner, the waves of tourists had almost receded and darkness rapidly descended and embraced the huge temple.

I was holding a torch in the deserted temple compound when a bell pealed out again and again solemnly. It was from the Brahma Bell (a large temple bell) in the temple's pavilion. The bell, which almost all Korean temples are equipped with, is one of the four Dharma instruments: Dharma drum, wooden fish, cloud-shaped gong and the bell. Hearing it reverberating through the universe, I reflected upon the profound symbolism of the instruments. It was a great vow to save, or enlighten, the creatures in the universe including those on land, in the sea, in the air and in hell.

Listening to the bell, I tried to be free from such hell, putting away my desire, anger and delusions. Considering that Buddhism is a religion of the mind, hell might be in our own minds, created by ourselves. So the effort to put down the burdens imposed by myself seemed effective in giving me comfort and peace of mind.

After the evening ceremonial service, the serene temple was completely deserted, only with the whispers of the brook changed into roaring. Temple people usually go to sleep at 9 p.m. and get up at 3 a.m. An overnight guest like us, however, is unlikely sleep well partly because of the sudden change of environment from noise to silence, from civilization to tradition and from secular to spiritual. Might it be the best moment to enjoy solitude walking along the stream? Once in tune with the regular sound of the brook, I went deeply into myself.

Tongdo Temple is well known for its precept-keeping tradition. Here is an anecdote of Master Jajang about precept observance: One day, Jajang, a hermit from the royal family of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935), received an ultimatum from his king, who said, ``You shall be beheaded if you insist on staying on the mountain.'' Despite the king's repeated demand to descend and assume the office of the kingdom, the master refused and replied, ``I'd choose to live one day, rather than a hundred years as a transgressor of the Buddhist precepts.''

By the same token, the monks of the temple were obviously under the strict monastic discipline or precept, careful in their behavior while walking, staying, sitting and lying down. We noticed dozens of ``sami'' monks (novice monks who are not fully ordained yet), during the solemn services, walking cautiously on tiptoe not to make any noise, which was impressive, if a little funny. Four years of such stern morale would finally lead them to ``bhikkhus'' (fully ordained monks).

Tasty, sticky rice was also a reminiscence of Tongdo Temple. Under the guidance of Ven. Sebong, we stopped in at the rice-cooking kitchen about 100 feet away from the temple's dining hall. At 10 a.m., several monks cook rice using two huge ``gamasots,'' or rice-cooking caldrons, each of which can serve over 200 people. According to a monk working there, on Buddha's Birthday last year, they made 20 caldrons of rice to serve meals to visitors. The secret of its taste was the two ``gamasots'' and the wholehearted devotion of the monks working there. We were glad to be specially served savory ``nureungji'' (scorched rice from the bottom of the caldron), which we had pleasantly shared and sampled, touring the temple.

As Korea's largest temple, Tongdo Temple has also acquired several epithets: namely, Korea's head temple of the Buddhist family, the Buddha treasure temple, one of Korea's five Jeokmyeolbogung temples and one of Korea's five Chongrims (monasteries equipped with full monastic training facilities). Currently it is undergoing significant changes by discarding age-old unfit practices and accommodating itself to the modern world.

Recently the temple has completed forestry work, replacing dozens of Japanese trees with Korean ones. ``I will make the temple a pleasant and comfortable place for the whole people,'' Ven. Jeongwoo declared at his inauguration as the abbot of the temple about a year ago.

Since then, many changes have occurred. The ``Keep Out'' sign at the entrance to the Diamond Precept Altar was removed. All the ``No Entry to Unauthorized Persons'' signs disappeared. Iron gates, barbed wire entanglements, and barricades were pulled down. Vending machines also disappeared ― instead, a snug resting place for visitors is to be built soon, with free Korean tea. Multilingual guidebooks will also be provided before long. Various cultural performances will be held as well.

What was especially interesting at Tongdo Temple was to talk with Ven. Sebong over cups of tea on the next morning of our visit. At first sight, he looked in his 40s but when a high-spirited teen's dance music rang out loudly from his cell phone, we could not swallow our laughter. He had the kindness to show us major halls and drove us to places where the temple's two projects are underway; construction sites for lotus ponds and tea-making facilities.

It is expected that the businesses will be of help to finance the temple in a few years. Of course, there may be controversy on the series of changes Tongdo Temple has made. Irrespective of the pros and cons on its changes, however, what all concerned people agree on is that Tongdo Temple should stand firm in its identity as Korea's head Buddhist temple.

We left the temple, wishing it to stand out as a representative of Korean Buddhism in the global community. Ven. Sebong accompanied us to the parking lot, standing there with a warm send-off until we were out of sight.